DHL invoice 1 month after receiving goods??!

tincat

Hi all,

Yet again, looking for help - I bought a christmas pressie from Hong Kong (I know but it was cheaper than here), which arrived in good time.

Today I get an invoice from DHL. Now I don't want them to have to have paid up to the receiver and I stiff them, but I still don't agree with their invoice.

The price of the present (BIN on ebay) was £39.99. The shipping charge was £24.99.

They have charged me the 'value for customs purposes' of £67.25. (this is £2.27 more than I paid). Then they have added 'VAT value adjustment' of £7.19.

This makes the total 'Value for VAT purposes' £74.44.

The VAT on this is £13.02, and the DHL admin fee is £01.25.

Therefore they are invocing me for £14.27.

I have a few questions:

Do they normally add the shipping price to the item price to get a value?
If they've made a mistake (ok it's a small one but still provable) can I dispute paying?
It came in a very small packet and on the archive DHL copy they've sent it is listed as weight 0.50kgs which I agree with. On their invoice, they've listed it as 1kg. I don't know if they list it as 'part thereof', but is the weight an issue?

What happens if I ignore the invoice? I probably won't because I'm paranoid about getting chased for money, but would still like to know.

Thanks

tincat

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This is the item I bought.

[/FONT][/FONT] http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370002747793

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]That is not my ebay user id by the way, I've just used an identical listing # from their feedback so you can see what the listings said. I've just looked v. carefully and it doesn't say anything about buyers being responsible for VAT or Customs or even mention them at all. Does this help me? [/FONT][/FONT]

mexicanwaver

Hi tincat,

Well regardless of whether or not the listing says that the buyer is responsible for the VAT and customs duty, the fact of the matter is that it's out of the seller's hands. When it comes into your country, you as the importer are obliged to pay the tax/duties to the government.

I have purchased items from outside Europe many times before and it really seems to be a lottery as to whether you get charged any duties at all. Some things have come through without any additional charges, whereas some other stuff gets billed.

Regarding your other question about adding the shipping cost to the value of the goods......DHL do not know how much you paid to your seller for the shipping costs. They will be going purely from the value that the seller states on the customs declaration (usually a sticker on the package). If anything, it is your seller's mistake for declaring the value wrongly.

Check this out....

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_001454&propertyType=document

beadysam

I wouldn'nt like to comment on their charging structure but I just wanted to say that I often buy from abroad and inevitably when I buy from China or Hong Kong the suppliers use DHL. I am amazed you got your invoice so quickly. I have had them usually after 2-3months, but once after 6 months and once after 8 months! So if you have a DHL deliver from abroad with no customs charges DO NOT assume you have got away with it. I'd recommend you put the cash aside - just in case....

darkcloudi

tincat wrote: »

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This is the item I bought.

[/FONT][/FONT]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370002747793

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]That is not my ebay user id by the way, I've just used an identical listing # from their feedback so you can see what the listings said. I've just looked v. carefully and it doesn't say anything about buyers being responsible for VAT or Customs or even mention them at all. Does this help me? [/FONT][/FONT]

I've purchased a Sony PSP from Hong Kong from another ebayer a while back and was also hit by customs. Although it was marked as a gift there is a certain limit that can go through without the custom charge.

DHL tend to charge you after the item is delivered. Royal Mail is a little different as they expect you to go to there depot to pay the charge and collect. If DHL had done the same as Royal Mail your item would have been delayed slightly. The custom charge is something they have already paid so I guess they expect to get the money back. Don't think you have much argument to reclaim this charge back. Custom charges from buying items overseas are quite common and some ebayers tend to declare this in there description.

tincat

Hi there and thanks for your replies.

I'm not saying I don't owe anything, as I know that customs have to be paid. What gets me, is the VAT adjustment. I've googled this, and everyone seems to agree its a dubious charge.

So DHL get paid by the seller to deliver to me, then they route the parcel through customs, and then charge me for them to deliver to me again? And then they combine the shipping charge again to calculate a higher amount of VAT adjustment etc etc etc.

Also, I've looked at the sellers declaration, and they confirm that the cost of the goods were £40.00. It doesn't mention the shipping fee, so DHL are obviously making up a shipping fee which is higher than what I actually paid.

It just seems like they are making up figures on what to charge me, and I feel like there should be a more transparent (and accurate) way.

I remember seeing a thread a couple of weeks ago on someone who objected to a shipping company holding their goods ransom waiting for their money before releasing the parcel. They successfully got out of paying. I can't find the thread though.

Also, the seller confirmed to them that the

NewtonsCat

tincat wrote: »

Hi all,

Yet again, looking for help - I bought a christmas pressie from Hong Kong (I know but it was cheaper than here), which arrived in good time.

Today I get an invoice from DHL. Now I don't want them to have to have paid up to the receiver and I stiff them, but I still don't agree with their invoice.

The price of the present (BIN on ebay) was £39.99. The shipping charge was £24.99.

They have charged me the 'value for customs purposes' of £67.25. (this is £2.27 more than I paid). Then they have added 'VAT value adjustment' of £7.19.

This makes the total 'Value for VAT purposes' £74.44.

The VAT on this is £13.02, and the DHL admin fee is £01.25.

Therefore they are invocing me for £14.27.

I have a few questions:

Do they normally add the shipping price to the item price to get a value?
If they've made a mistake (ok it's a small one but still provable) can I dispute paying?
It came in a very small packet and on the archive DHL copy they've sent it is listed as weight 0.50kgs which I agree with. On their invoice, they've listed it as 1kg. I don't know if they list it as 'part thereof', but is the weight an issue?

What happens if I ignore the invoice? I probably won't because I'm paranoid about getting chased for money, but would still like to know.

Thanks

I've just received an item from the US, which cost me $79 + $50 shipping. Sent via Fedex US. The seller only quoted the $79 on the declaration. Fedex UK quoted £49 (pounds) freight charges to customs - twice what I paid. (There was also £7.19 'VAT value adjustment'.) So it seems that Fedex in the UK don't know what Fedex in the US charge customers for freight and if the sender doesn't fill in the freight charges bit Fedex UK invent a figure higher than the real charge. What benefit is it to them to do this? Maybe it helps them in some way to cover those customers who avoid paying? Sounds like some kind of scam to me. Fedex UK are gonna ring me about this in a couple of days and "explain". It seems one needs to instruct the sender to include freight charges on the declaration to avoid paying excess VAT in the UK.

fatboyslim

I believe you would pay
Import Duty (4-7% dependant on what the item is, on the whole amount)
VAT (17.5% on the whole amount)
Clearence Fee (what DHL charge for doing all the necessary)

I was always told to 'allow' roughly 25% of the TOTAL cost (inc shipping) just in case customs stung me
So £14.27 on £74 seems about right
But saying that I would ring DHL and query how they got their total value

TheMysterious1

as long as you have got your invoice, fax it into dhl and get them to adjust it.

they did the same with me regarding something i bought from the US. but i had my invoice stating the actual shipping costs and the actual costs of the products. i faxed them in my invoice and got them to alter it.

admittedly they did it wrong and i queried the vat adjustment tax they add on seeing as they already add vat on the end and sent it back. not heard from them since.

do not worry about owing money...there's plenty of time for you and them to get it sorted out so you pay the correct amount "if" you have to pay anything at all. i think for your item it's borderline and you shouldn't be paying anything.

NewtonsCat

Fedex's invoice states: Where the carriage charges are not shown separately on the commercial invoice an element of the cost of transporting the goods to the UK is added by HM Revenue & Customs.

What they don't say is that the carriage charges figure is supplied to Customs by Fedex - that's what Customs TOLD ME.

However, I read somewhere else that Fedex calculate these charges based on instructions originating from HM Customs. If the carriage charges are not shown on the invoice on the parcel it seems that Fedex are under instructions from Customs to inflate the charges according to a set formula.

The use of the word 'element' intrigues me - could this be referring to the "excess" freight charges added as some sort of "penalty" for not stating the charges on the package?

As VAT value adjustment really refers to a part of the transportation costs I was charged VAT on £49.00 + £7.19 = £56.19 for a parcel that the sender has informed me cost him $41 to send (I paid him $50 P & P) - so the carriage charges "element" ended up getting on for 3 times what it might have been if the sender had filled in the freight charges bit.

Jnelhams

No you will not get away with out paying, they will take you to Court and you will pay the costs. That will affect your credit record.

DHL/Fedex/Royal Mail are collecting Import Duty as required by law, and the VAT on the service for doing so.

Outside of the EU the UK import limit is £19 for personal import, and £125 for people coming back from Holiday outside the EU.

There is no right of appeal to a Customs valuation.

As a point of Interest, Customs have the right to enter your home or business with out warning, as they hold a Warrant of entry granted more than 200 years ago, and have more powers than the Police.